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Forcefully removing baby teeth usually isn’t necessary or advisable, despite the
string-on-a-doorknob strategy many adults will tell you their parents and teachers employed.

There are times when urging a tooth along makes sense, dentists say, but most of the time that
deed should be left to the tooth’s owner, who likely will lose 20 baby teeth between the ages of 6
and 12.

If a loose tooth is hanging on and is annoying or painful, the best thing is for the child to
play with it and move things along, said Dr. Paul Casamassimo, chief of dentistry at Nationwide
Children’s Hospital.

Ripping out a tooth that’s not ready can tear the gum or even result in part of the root
remaining in the mouth, he said. If the tooth is bothering the child, some topical anesthetic can
help.

“Nature has taken care of this for millennia. When they’re ready to come out, they come out,”
Casamassimo said.

Dr. Kara Morris, of Olentangy Pediatric Dentistry in Powell, agreed that kids should be left to
their own devices, in part because parents can overestimate how loose a tooth is.

Some children are apprehensive and tend to avoid the loose teeth, she said. “Then we get sort of
baby teeth that cling on for dear life.”

Offering an incentive sometimes helps, but some children end up in her office for a little help,
Morris said.

There also are exceptions to the do-it-yourself rule.

Some children have baby teeth that won’t budge even as adult teeth are pushing through. And in
some cases, an adult canine tooth can become impacted and grow sideways if its predecessor doesn’t
make room. In both cases, help from a dentist is in order.

“The ones that really concern us are the ones that won’t fall out. If they won’t fall out, we
have to remove them ... to allow the adult tooth to straighten and get into that spot,” said Dr.
Sidney Price of Worthington Pediatric Dentists.

“In the lower front teeth, it happens quite often.”

If a tooth that has moved out of the way is on the verge of falling out and is annoying to a
child — to the point that he or she avoids brushing the area or eating — it’s fine to help a
little, Price said. In those cases, he recommends a little over-the-counter anesthetic, a tissue to
grip the tooth and a distracting fib.

“Don’t tell them you’re removing it. Tell them on the count of three to sneeze, and you pull the
tooth out at the same time, and it’s gone and you give them another Kleenex to bite on. It’s over
with,” Price said.

Dentists say they don’t hear too many stories these days about extreme approaches to tooth
removal, such as the doorknob method.

However, “If you have a kid who is a real gamer and you want to attempt something like that,
fine,” Morris said.

Some parents say they worry that their children will swallow a tooth or choke on it in their
sleep, but dentists say there is little concern.

“I’m sure that millions, maybe billions of teeth have been swallowed with no untoward effects.
Acid in the stomach will dissolve it, or it will pass through uneventfully,” Casamassimo said.